Hutto High preparing students for medical careers CTE courses let pupils earn certifications, jobs
HUTTO — From ambulances to a mock pharmacy, the medical staffers of tomorrow are getting cutting-edge training today thanks to health care programs at Hutto High School, educators said.
The health sciences department is the largest in the school’s career and technical education program with about 700 students enrolled.
Educators say the interest is sparked by the prospect of good pay and career longevity in the booming health care industry.
The inside of the Hutto High School health sciences department’s ambulance simulator where students learn to stock equipment and practice on medical manikin patients.
A view of the ambulance simulator used in the Hutto High School health sciences program.
Photos by Emily Treadway —
“That puts things into perspective.”
Travis Clark, Hutto Independent School District
Students can earn certifications in four health-related areas by taking one each year of high school, including real-world training for seniors.
“Seniors have the option of taking a practicum for a clinical medical assistant, pharmacy technician or emergency medical technician and the EMT is a dual-credit program with Temple College,” said Travis Clark, CTE director for the Hutto Independent School District.
Students said the programs are preparing them for jobs they can step into right after high school.
“In (pharmacy) tech, we can go directly into the pharmacy industry, like CVS (drugstores) and other pharmacies,” said senior Koi Haban.
In addition to pharmacy training, students can be certified as electrocardiogram technicians. Those in the EMT program receive a basic certification.
With one more year of schooling after graduation, a pupil can become a paramedic, teachers said. Human health is just one facet of the education; there is also a curriculum for veterinary assistants.
All students are required to take a beginning course on the principles of health and science.
“Then they move to medical terminology and during their junior year we require anatomy and physiology,” Clark said.
Juniors may also study health science theory and medical microbiology. The seniors take the practicum.
“EMT students have to do 60 hours of rideouts (in ambulances) and 20 hours in an emergency department,” Clark said.
Students train in the school’s newly renovated health wing by working in mock intake pharmacy areas and medical clinics. Hospital curtains divide spaces, resembling an actual emergency room.
An ambulance simulator dominates one end of the wing. When taking a tour with a Williamson County ambulance service, students note how equipment and supplies are stocked in the vehicle.
“Then they’ll come back here and model the simulator setup after the actual ambulance,” Clark said.
Pupils in the healthscience courses also wear surgical scrubs.
“It’s one of those things where the younger students kind of look up to them and it’s good internal marketing with the younger students saying, ‘I want to be that kid one day,’” Clark said.
The high school is shifting from students wondering what to do after school to instead deciding where they want to start, he added. “That puts things into perspective,” Clark said.
Haban, who aims to be an anesthesiologist, wants to earn a pharmacy technician certification to help learn how to work with patients and how to measure and classify drugs.
Haban said every university has a pharmacy. His plan is to work at his campus pharmacy while he attends school.
“I wouldn’t have to go all the way off campus, I can stay on campus and still do schoolwork,” Haban said.
